Individuals undergoing medical treatments in hospital settings frequently find themselves connected to catheters which are tubular surgical instruments for withdrawing fluids from a cavity in the body. In normal use, one end of a catheter is introduced into the bladder through the urethra for withdrawing urine and the other end is connected to a bag or bottle for collecting the withdrawn urine. Despite their widespread use and great utility, catheters limit the mobility of a user, tethering him to a fluid collector. Over long periods of time, such a loss of mobility can lead to depression and other medical problems.
Products have been proposed that permit catheters and other tubular surgical instruments to be parted. Many of these products utilize small components or portions that are rotated relative to one another. Unfortunately, many infirm or elderly individuals cannot manipulate these things and, hence, find them to be useless. A need, therefore, exists for a releasable tubing connector that can be readily operated by one of limited strength or muscular dexterity to separate the end of a catheter inserted into the operator from the end connected to a fluid collector so that the operator can travel away from the fluid collector from time to time without assistance.